The Coming Triumph of Emperor Starscream I
by Tavalya Ra
Summary: After "Patch", Starscream makes a new bid for power under the pretense of rekindling his affair with Megatron- and his success goes wildly beyond his expectations.


**The Coming Triumph of Emperor Starscream I**

Summary: After "Patch", Starscream makes a new bid for power under the pretense of rekindling his affair with Megatron- and his success goes wildly beyond his expectations.

Rating: R

Warnings: slash, consensual violent sex, MPreg

Notes and Acknowledgements: I fully expect this to become AU with the next episode of "Transformers: Prime", but that does not trouble me. I hope it is abundantly clear to everyone just how seriously this story should be taken. Much love goes out to Neoyi who had no small part in encouraging me to write this and to bestow upon this its magnificent title.

Disclaimer: "Transformers: Prime" is owned by Hasbro, who would not approve of this story but certainly approves of my spending habits. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

* * *

Relief flushed through Starscream's system with such force that, despite the newfound calmness in his spark, he shook like a leaf in a turbine. Megatron had taken him back. Even after plundering Starscream's mind and wresting his intentions from his processor, Megatron had dismissed his former treason and welcomed him into the ranks again.

_Ah, but Megatron didn't find all my intentions_, he thought. With uncharacteristic restraint, he held back a smirk. A particularly… sensitive element of his newest scheme had been successfully concealed. He _would_ make himself Emperor Starscream the First- and if he could not do it over Megatron's dead shell, he would make Megatron subordinate to his desires.

He stood up from the table in the medical bay and turned to give Megatron a grateful look. "My lord, I swear you will not regret-"

"I have had enough of your sniveling today, Starscream," Megatron dismissed him harshly. "If I thought I'd regret anything to do with you being alive, you wouldn't be."

"Ah…" Starscream hunched his shoulders meekly and grimaced. "Of course. Your wisdom is…" He groped for a suitably flattering word. "…infallible."

Not deeming this praise worthy of acknowledgement, Megatron turned away and addressed Knockout. "Doctor… we need to talk."

Starscream had forgotten anyone else was in the room. He looked towards the glossy red car and saw that the other Decepticon appeared apprehensive.

"Of course, Lord Megatron. I only require a moment or so to check-"

"When I say it is time to talk, you will be available in that instant!" Megatron growled. "But you shall have your _moment_, Knockout. I am not through with Starscream."

_What was that about?_ Starscream wondered. He tried to catch Knockout's optic and realized the car was taking deliberate effort not to meet his glance. Undoubtedly there was a reason, but he felt unconcerned- he was more worried by the implication that Megatron had some further test or torment planned for him.

Without a word of warming, Megatron turned sharply and walked out of the room. Starscream released a strangled note of exclamation and scrambled after him. So, the old expectations had returned already- that Starscream would know when and how high to leap for his commander without the slightest prompting first!

_Pompous old rust can!_ he thought, catching up to Megatron's side. Even then, he had to scrabble several steps for each of the warrior's massive strides. _It's your fault I had to flee you and try to work against you in the first place!_

Well, if that clanging clunker thought his scant mercy had Starscream converted and cowed, he was in for the jolt of his lifecycle… just as soon as Starscream figured out how to deliver it.

They passed through the halls, Megatron walking with indifferent pride, too self-absorbed and certain of his magnificence to bother acknowledging the precise salutes of the Vehicons he passed. Starscream watched with envy. He'd never understood the obsequious regard the Vehicons paid Megatron, only knew he had not been able to command it for himself during his tenure as their leader. Accordingly, he denied them any reaction to their surprised looks. Let them be startled- he didn't care what _servants_ thought!

"My lord," he started, still skittering to keep pace. "As I said before, I acknowledge much has changed… and that Dreadwing-" He paused, unable to restrain a grimace. "-is now your second-in-command. I cannot help but wonder what then is to be my place-"

"You will serve me in whatever manner I see fit."

"Ah." _That tells me nothing!_ "Of course, my-"

"Starscream, shut up."

They turned a corridor, entering the area of _The Nemesis_ that contained the crew's resting and recharging berths. Were they simply passing through or was this the intended destination? Starscream suddenly worried that he was about to be assigned the indignity of a sharing bunk with the common soldiers, but Megatron stopped before a familiar entrance.

"Your old room," he said and without ceremony shoved the door open.

"Why, Lord Megatron, I am most gratified that you kept my- Ahh!"

Starscream balked as he saw the condition of his personal chamber. All of the furniture, sleeping slab included, had been roughly overturned. His possessions- datapads, crystals, and other miscellanea- were on the floor, most of them crushed, shattered, or otherwise ruined.

"What happened!" he cried.

"You left," Megatron said calmly. His face was turned aside, one optic gone lazy and roving.

_You did this!_ he fumed silently. _You and your temper that you try to pretend doesn't make you a brute!_

He quickly smothered his anger. He'd been done an injustice, but saying so would only get him into trouble. In time, Megatron would answer for this and far more. Unfortunately, that moment was not now.

_Or is it?_ Was it too soon to set the foundation for his new plans? His opening move would be subtler than his prior bids for power and Megatron would pay little notice if it failed.

"I suppose this was to be expected," he said with resignation, stepping into the room. He took care to place one heeled foot precisely in front of the other as he walked, a motion that accentuated the sway of his hips. "We've both acknowledged how wrong I was to leave you."

Suspicious, Megatron asked, "What are you after, Starscream?"

Starscream considered subtlety, then decided obviousness better suited the occasion. Pivoting on his heel, he turned to look at Megatron imploringly with head lowered and hand clasped over his chest.

"It's been so long…"

His words were a gamble. Megatron had certainly never cared about _his_ needs and the thought of leaving him yearning might please the Decepticon overlord. But Starscream bet that Megatron's personal frustration was too great for him to consider either way what his returned Seeker wanted.

The door slammed shut.

"Yes," Megatron agreed. "It has been a long time."

Roaring, he pounced on Starscream. His larger and much heavier frame pounded the lither Decepticon against the floor. His hand enclosed around Starscream's throat.

"And whose fault is that, Starscream!"

"Mine! It's mine!" Starscream shrieked. Panicked, his limbs took animation unguided by his processor and ineffectually flailed. "Lord Megatron, forgive me! Forgive-"

"Oh, if you aren't penitent now, you will be!"

Megatron's serrated teeth scraped Starscream's shoulder and he screamed. He screamed without restraint or shame, remembering why this room- why his room among only a servo-full of others on _The Nemesis_- was soundproofed.

"My lord-"

He scrabbled, attempting to grip one of Megatron's shoulder spikes as he was yanked up by the neck and thrust against the wall. His frame was sturdy enough to absorb the shock of the blow, not that Megatron had considered that. The pain was not severe and it was familiar- and there was a comfort in it, for it signified how desperately, how _virulently _he was wanted. He might wish Megatron were gentler about it, but he gladly embraced his commander's desire.

_It has been a very long time…_

Bracing his back against the wall, he spread his legs apart in invitation. Megatron took it, slamming his body into Starscream's and grinding against him. Starscream hooked his legs around Megatron's waist, riding the other 'Con's bucking motion. His tactile sensors blared with sensation. The pounding was a rhythm, driving him through agony towards bliss. A hand on his wing made him shudder, made him sing.

"Loooord- oh my _loooooooord!_"

Megatron didn't answer- Megatron's reason had long since evaporated before the blaze of his lust. Pleasure similarly consumed Starscream's processor, but he fought to regain control. Now was his moment and he needed to concentrate!

The Cybertronian race, though mechanical, had been conceived through the supernatural. Most bots knew only of Vector Sigma and the fabled AllSpark, but Primus had endowed his children with many ways to reproduce. He had even- as Starscream, in his recent scientific research, had discovered- acted upon a stroke of brilliant, insidious revenge to conceal a trickle of his power within the blood of Unicron- within Dark Energon, the same substance that Starscream and Megatron were the only 'Cons living to have touched.

_So as Primus twisted Unicron's power to his own ends, I will subvert your will to mine, Megatron!_

As with everything to do with Dark Energon, Starscream acted on a combination of guesswork and instinct- yet, as also with anything to do with Dark Energon, intention was enough to direct its potency. That remained true even though Unicron had been defeated and the song of its power subdued- but he called upon Primus, the creator, and that surely was why he succeeded. A sudden influx of energy pulsed warm through him; a powerful thrumming filled his chest as if his spark had taken substance and swelled. A sympathetic vibration responded from within Megatron, striking a harmony. It trilled through Starscream's body, exciting him, enrapturing him- he was not prepared for the jolt of power that followed, overwhelming his sensors.

_A god- I am a god!_ he meant to shout, but instead his vocalizer wordlessly howled his ecstasy and triumph.

Certain of his divinity, he fainted.

* * *

_Several orbital cycles later…_

It had all gone horribly wrong.

Decacycles had passed, Starscream gleefully anticipating Megatron discovering what had been done to him. Then, Knockout had begun the surgery to replace Starscream's T-cog- and had stopped the procedure the moment he had uncovered a misplaced miracle.

_Why does the universe hate me!_ Starscream cried, remembering that terrible day- remembering how Megatron had laughed and leered.

"It seems Primus himself smiles on our reunion, Starscream," he had said.

_Not Primus!_ Starscream had wanted to shout. _Me! I did this! But it was supposed to happen to _you_!_

Wisely he had kept silent, lest even the fact that he bore progeny inside him fail to temper Megatron's wrath.

It was an omen, the Vehicons were rumored to believe. It was a sign that the Decepticons were meant to hold the Omega Keys and revive Cybertron. It was even speculated that the Omega Keys united were what had endowed Starscream with reproductive capabilities.

It was a pain in the posterior plating and to the leg struts. Starscream didn't understand how his slender frame could support even a tiny machine being constructed inside him- nor why that creation was so slagging heavy if it occupied the same space as his T-cog had. Knockout, who merrily looked upon Starscream's condition as a new research project, had said that the growth wasn't a miniature robot, but a thick ball of components that would develop into something more recognizable as a Cybertronian once it left Starscream's body. Nonetheless, he had cautioned that it was delicate and advised Starscream to stay off his feet- a recommendation that Megatron had made an order.

Slagged if Starscream was going to spend his cycles on his back! He got up and stalked around his cabin as much as he wished- which wasn't quite so much. The ball or sparkling or whatever he carried rested in the lower right of his torso, thoroughly unbalancing him, and its heft caused an ache that ran all the way to his feet. He soon retired to his sleeping slab, which was now covered in cushioning pillows.

"Steve!" he snapped.

The Vehicon in question appeared promptly. Starscream pointed at his feet. Steve understood the command and began tenderly rubbing his master's heel.

Steve had been a pleasant- the _only_ pleasant- surprise in this miserable affair. When Megatron had confined Starscream to quarters "for medical reasons", he had also assigned him a Vehicon to act as his personal servant. Starscream had little love for Vehicons as they seemed to have little regard for him. He had assumed the car would be ungrateful and difficult to command and had expressed his displeasure by derogatorily assigning him the first Earth name which had come to mind. Yet Steve had shattered his expectations by responding to every order with swift attention and even pleasure. Merely being in Starscream's presence seemed to make him happy- at last, Starscream had found the perfect minion.

"Oh, Steve, if only all Vehicons were like you," he said with a sigh. Then he could have pulled the plug when Megatron had been on spark support and no one would have blinked an optic. An army of Steves would have trampled Soundwave, jubilantly shouting "All hail Starscream!" before that creepy spy-con could have retaliated.

The door opened. Megatron entered.

"Leave us," he dismissed Steve.

The Vehicon bowed his head and stepped outside. Starscream knew he would be standing at attention outside, waiting for the soonest moment to return.

Folding his hands against his chest, Starscream regarded Megatron with a languid gaze meant to disguise his irritation. _Why are you here? Come to gloat some more?_

Megatron's optics narrowed in suspicion. "You have been obeying my command to rest and conserve your resources, haven't you, Starscream?"

With a nervous titter, he answered, "Of course, my lord. Why do you ask?"

"Your Vehicon was stroking your feet."

"Holding, my lord- inspecting! Looking for rust. You know how the damp the air can get on _The Nemesis_." Time for a hasty change in subject. "My lord, the delicacy of my condition has been well impressed upon me, but I do get quite bored-"

"And you are privileged to have tedium as the worst of your concerns," Megatron replied.

Starscream hunched his shoulders and smiled uneasily. "But surely as your second-in-command, it would be remiss of us not to find a way to still put my talents to use."

Megatron sat down on the edge of his bed.

"You are not my second-in-command. You have become too precious a commodity to risk on the battlefield," he said. He gripped Starscream's chin with possessive affection. "Even after we restore Cybertron, Vector Sigma will undoubtedly resist our efforts to harness it. Until its defiance is broken, you are our only hope of repopulation. That is why I promoted you to Queen."

_Don't pretend you did that to honor me! This amuses you!_ Starscream thought in a panicked rage. He dearly hoped the suggestion that he would reproduce indefinitely was a joke, too.

"My lord-"

"Quiet, Starscream. I didn't come here to talk."

If there was one change he appreciated, it was that out of consideration for his condition, Megatron was now tender with his touch. He laid beside Starscream on the left and rested one leg atop the Seeker's two, but otherwise did not press his weight upon him. His hand reached across Starscream's chest, groping for his wing and then stroking. Eventually, he started gently rocking against Starscream's side. Meanwhile, his fingers trailed down Starscream's body, seeking out sensitive seam lines and sensor patches. It was wholly unlike the savage play they had engaged in before, but it left Starscream shuddering in delight.

"Oh, my loooord…" he moaned softly. Being pleasured on a bed of pillows made him feel like he was floating on a cloud of bliss.

Megatron sighed in release, then stilled. Moments passed. At last, the warlord stood up and lightly pressed his fingers against Starscream's mouth.

"When you're not scheming, you are a pleasant diversion," he said. "But I expect you to take your duty seriously. So, my queen, I command you… to nest."

Starscream's optics widened in outrage. Megatron's response was to throw back his head and laugh all the way out the door.

"You… you…" Starscream sputtered, too furious for words. He threw the first thing he could grab- one of the pillows- but only succeeded in hitting Steve in the face as the Vehicon reentered.

"Queen am I!" he screeched. "I will not be your personal factory, Megatron! I will rule the Decepticons long after you have decayed into rust!"

Steve said nothing. He approached the bed and proffered the pillow in appeal. Starscream growled, but lifted his shoulder and allowed the Vehicon to replace and refluff his cushions. Steve then gestured towards his feet, a silent inquiry if he should resume massaging them. Starscream nodded.

Steve's ministrations served to sooth him; soon, he relaxed a tension he hadn't realized he been holding in his lumbar rob and began to think clearly. He considered the facts of his situation. The first was that Megatron did not know how Starscream had come to carry this… off-spark, he supposed. Nor did Megatron suspect Starscream had deliberately triggered its creation. Thus, the Decepticon lord would be unable to replicate the process. Suggest and taunt all he wanted, but there would be no repeat of this miracle. The second was that the Vehicons, that superstitious and foolish horde of scrapheaps, now regarded Starscream as sacred as any relic- they would _have_ to respect him now and Megatron would not be unable to threaten Starscream publically without causing them distress. All things considered, that turned this misadventure into a slight but pleasing victory.

"And eventually, I will leverage their reverence to take control," he said to himself. "I _will_ be Emperor Starscream the First… and I suppose if there is a first, there naturally would follow a second." He touched his side- where his t-cog had once been, where the small machine that would grow into his heir now rested. "That's what you are. Starscream the Second."

Steve looked at his master with fond approval and nodded.


End file.
